On Monday, February 20th, the Sunnyshore Studio grounds crew put in a big day prepping for the Jack Dorsey “Past to Present” Art Retrospective.

First let me introduce the grounds crew, then I’ll share their heroic accomplishments.

Jason Dorsey is the chief foreman of the grounds crew. But being a relative rookie at spry and youthful age of 47, he sometimes get bossed around or questioned by Jack Dorsey, who at the ripe old age of 76 knows a thing or two. When he’s not trying to be in charge, Jack Dorsey is the Master-Teacher as well as just a solid, old-fashioned-hard-worker. The last in the grounds triumvirate is Jacob Dorsey. As the youngest he gets bossed around the most, but learns quickly and is by far the most agile and strong so he gets the hardest and, consequently, most glamorous jobs like lifting heavy stones, digging deep ditches, and pushing heavy wheelbarrow loads of dirt. So there you have it: the grounds team.

Now, about the stunning amount of work they got done on Monday, February 20th.

Actually, the work began a couple of days before Monday. Jack took about two days to wash mud off the round rocks used for drainage ditches and load them into his trusty ford truck. Jason, early on Monday morning, before 8:00am, after a cup of coffee and hearty breakfast, moved this rock from the truck to fill up about 15 feet of a drainage ditch. However, it was not enough rock. So he drove Jack’s trusty Ford to Donny Watkins place and picked up another truckload of round river rock. By that time Jacob and Jack joined him in filling the rest of the ditch with rock.

Donny Watkins arranged to have a bid load of gravel dumped in the area just north of the Studio. Jack and Jason spread this gravel out. At that time Jacob was nowhere to be found, having gone into the Studio to eat a bit and do some “self-care” (i.e. reading a book). After a while Jack was ready to have Jacob’s strong back and arms joining in on the spreading of the gravel so he went into the Studio to fetch Jacob. It looks great, and will keep it from getting “muddy”. Princess Jackie thinks it’s a perfect place to build her tiny house.

But that’s not all they did.

Jacob and Jason moved some large boulders and stones by hand to create something of a “feature”, a divide, between the gravel and the dirt which will eventually become a lush grassy area. Being of an engineering mindset and older-and-wiser Jack suggested the use of a dolley, and Jacob also being of an engineering mindset liked the idea too. Jason, being of a less of an engineering mindset p00h-pooed the whole idea, but was voted down. So with the help of the dolley and the strong back of Jacob they built a nice rock feature.

That was not all their accomplishments. They also spread a huge pile of topsoil out on the grassy bluff east of the studio looking onto the water. This lawn will eventually be the outdoor gathering space for the studio, perfect for lawn parties, for outdoor concerts, and campfires.

In conclusion, the grounds are coming along nicely in time to celebrate artist Jack Dorsey’s 77th birthday with an Art Retrospective. It is strange to have someone on the grounds crew with the same name of a legendary artist, especially on such a small Island as Camano. You can meet the Artist Jack Dorsey at the Art Retrospective that looks back over Jack’s 50+ years as an artist. And you might also be able to catch a site of the grounds crew member too, if he happens to show up.